“So, how did it go?” A familiar voice interrupted Aven’s thoughts, prompting him to look at the source.

“Oh, hello Kern~” Smiling politely at his half-friend, he pieced together the best possible reply to the question he had just been asked, “Look at my score. Action speaks louder than words.”

Going through the motion, Kern dropped off his gears in front of a marked unit and only then made his way to his unit to see his screen.

“32?” Seeing this score, he frowned really hard.

“Unbelievable? I’m a world genius? Are you going to be jealous of my accelerated learning-focused innate ability?” Adopting a smug smile, Aven provoked his half-friend as best as he could.

“Yeah… That’s a bit unbelievable,” Kern admitted honestly before looking at him more deeply, “Did you reach this score through pure knowledge? That’s why you’re still reading the schematics?”

“Affirmative, sir. I only have the knowledge but not the practice that comes with it,” waving his book harder, he maintained his smug smile while trying to evoke contempt but having difficulty doing so.

“You should visit the military production line in the hangar when you have time,” advising him to do something seemingly totally unrelated to what they had been discussing a second ago, he then proceeded to return to his marked unit and closed his eyes.

“That was already on my to-do list,” returning his focus to his book after saying that, Aven dismissed every useless thought.

…

With his positive feedback loop plan having been confirmed to exist and surpassing all his expectations, Aven nearly started living at the core computing hall, being present there at least 16 hours per day.

During those 16 hours, he kept pushing for a deeper comprehension of the core computing units, ultimately reaching a ratio of 800 FCP per hour after 48 hours, or 3 days, of single-minded dedication.

With this increase accompanied by a total gain of 33 600 FCP, bringing his FCP stock to 36 500 FCP, he had gathered more than half of the required contribution for his next turning point.

And following 2 more days while keeping this intense rate bordering a passionate drive, which brought him an additional 25 600 FCP, after getting a good 6 hours of sleep and instantly coming back to the core computing hall for 7 more hours of volunteering quest...

Faction Contribution Quest: Eland Military Academy of Technology and Engineering

Volunteering: Contribute to the stability of your faction without asking for anything in return. The more time spent and the harder the tasks, the greater the contribution.

Reward: 5 600 FCP

‘Let’s go.’

A bit tired but not overly so, he packed up and left the hall without saying a word.

Entering his apartment 10 minutes later, he dropped his backpack at the entrance and crashed onto his couch as he brought his faction contribution shop.

Faction Contribution Shop: Eland Military Academy of Technology and Engineering

Faction Authority: Student

Faction Contribution Points: 67 700

…

Knowledge: Intermediate Computer Engineering (67 500 FCP)

‘Even after 6 days, the price hasn’t changed… It’s logical though, when I think about it. What I was learning back then wasn’t just how this precise computing unit worked, I was also learning the basics of how computers work.’

Retrospectively finding why the prices of some knowledge had decreased back when he had blindly studied the black and white book, he claimed his next turning point after putting on some soft background music, brought a pillow and a blanket, and closed his apartment door.

Knowledge: Intermediate Computer Engineering (Claim?)

“Bring it on and let me sleep,” confirming 2 times he wanted this knowledge, he then instantly claimed it as he closed his eyes before he was forced to do so.

Before he knew it, exactly like last time, too much foreign information was appearing in his brain for it to process it all while keeping its consciousness.

And this time, the information package was much bigger than last time.

Much, much bigger.

…

‘Now that’s an upgrade.’

Sitting in a daze as he had just woken up, Aven only now started to realize what an engineering-type of knowledge implied.

It covered so many fields from theoretical to practical that he felt he could create from the ground up a computer motherboard with all its accompanying exploitation systems.

Whereas computer science wasn’t as much involved on the practical side, computer engineering was involved in many hardware and software aspects of computing.

From designing microprocessors and personal computers, up to supercomputers, this field of engineering was not only focused on how computer systems themselves worked, but it was also involved in how they integrated into the larger picture.

‘The only thing I’m missing before being considered a computer engineering graduate is all the sub-knowledge like critical reasoning or industry skills that I should have acquired over my years of practical classes.’

Picking up his innate ability notepad, Aven was ready to actualize all the prices as he brought up his faction shop.

Faction Contribution Shop: Eland Military Academy of Technology and Engineering

Faction Authority: Student

Faction Contribution Points: 200

Knowledge: Basic Energy Cultivation (2 000 FCP)

Knowledge: Basic Energy Application (2 000 FCP)

Knowledge: Basic Super Biology (2 600 FCP)

Knowledge: Basic Literature (4 200 FCP)

Knowledge: Basic History (4 700 FCP)

Knowledge: Basic Geography (4 800 FCP)

Knowledge: Basic Cooking (4 900 FCP)

Knowledge: Basic Firearms (5 200 FCP)

…

Knowledge: Intermediate Mathematics (30 600 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Physics (33 400 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Leadership (35 000 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Critical Reasoning (37 100 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Data Modeling (40 700 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Engineering Management (41 900 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Biology (45 900 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Manufacturing (43 200 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Resources (45 300 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Pressure Management (48 300 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Structural Analysis (48 500 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Industry Skills (51 700 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Electrical Engineering (52 700 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Environmental Engineering (66 100 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Agricultural Engineering (66 200 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Mechanical Engineering (66 200 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Civil Engineering (67 100 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Repair and Maintenance Engineering (67 400 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Chemical Engineering (68 000 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Aerospace Engineering (68 100 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Aeronautical Engineering (68 100 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Biomedical Engineering (68 400 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Industrial Engineering (68 400 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Armament Engineering (68 700 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Vehicle Engineering (68 900 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Tactics Engineering (69 200 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Weapon Engineering (69 600 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Materials Engineering (69 600 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Mining and Geological Engineering (69 700 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Construction Engineering (69 900 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Nuclear Engineering (70 400 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Combat Engineering (72 400 FCP)

Knowledge: Intermediate Developmental Engineering (77 200 FCP)

“Oh dear, what happened to you electrical engineering?” Exaggerating his reaction, a smile appeared on his face soon after he had reported all the changes in prices, “The way of the positive feedback loop feels so damn good.”

Enjoying his amazing progress for what it was: Something monstrous, he enjoyed his life for what it was for a few seconds before immediately starting to plan for his next objective.

‘Next is electrical engineering, then I think I’ll start going through the entire backlog. And after that… Either do a bit of practice at the hangar or graduate directly, it depends.’

Interrupting him was his stomach gurgling in protest at its current empty state.

“Well, life waits for no one,” parodying something he couldn't remember the origin of, he decided that he didn’t want to cook himself something, so he turned off the TV, got up from the couch, picked up his conveniently already prepared backpack, and left his apartment.

…

As the White had only just started to set, the cafeteria hadn't yet transitioned to its night state. This made things easy for Aven as he liked the background noise of a filled cafeteria, he even found Lorelie eating on her own at a table.

“Good evening Lorelie, did you have a fruitful day?” Imposing himself as if they had been friends for a long time, Aven didn’t even think of her as a woman, she was just a convenient conversation partner.

“Surely more fruitful than yours,” lifting her head for but a mere second to confirm who he was, she continued watching her phone after that, implicitly not rejecting him.

“I doubt that very much, but anyway,” setting his plate properly as he answered in kind, he also got his phone on the table but didn’t do anything with it, just leaving it there as he started attacking his appetizing food.

His mind still filled with all kinds of new knowledge that still hadn’t settled properly, he didn’t try to start a conversation. Just having company in the form of a half-friend was enough for his meal to be good.

With no distraction, he finished eating and left before Lorelie even attacked her desert.

Five minutes later, he entered the core computing hall, said hello to the twins and Kern, and dazedly looked over those massive 5-meters tall computing units.

‘This whole place is really just a watered-down version of a supercomputer installation.’

Combining his prior understanding of those units and his new understanding of computing technologies in general, as well as how they were applied in reality, Aven became able to see a much larger picture.

Reaching for the indent, he used his new knowledge to not only enhance the computing power, but also to properly fluidify the entry and exit information traffic, stabilize the different currents, optimize the calculation tasks distribution, and reinforce the weaker parts of the electronics…

‘Do I even need to look at my score?’

Comparing his previous score that had only come to be due to him understanding how computers worked, compared to now where he had an understanding of every single parameter that was linked to a computing system… The difference was just too big.

‘I’m so into computers that if I was denied access to them, my FCP farming plans would have to start from near zero again.’

Still looking at his score despite perfectly knowing it would have increased massively, he was nonetheless shocked when he really saw it.

“72…” He mumbled as silently as he could his score, then took a deep breath to calm down as he calculated his new FCP to time ratio following the linear logic he had deduced, “1 500 FCP per hour?”

With this prospective gain in mind, he settled down and patiently waited one hour…

Faction Contribution Quest: Eland Military Academy of Technology and Engineering

Volunteering: Contribute to the stability of your faction without asking for anything in return. The more time spent and the harder the tasks, the greater the contribution.

Reward: 1 500 FCP

“Well, it just means my countdown is set at 34 hours until my next turning point at 52 700 contribution points,” acting resigned despite his inner bubbling excitement, Aven continued reading the black and white book.

The difference this time was that sooner or later, he would finish this book and have to go fetch some others at the library.

…

With his positive feedback loop plan unraveling before his eyes without anything stopping it, Aven continued perpetuating his volunteering quest for 2 more days at 16 hours a day, then on the 3rd day, after getting a few hours in, he reached the needed FCP sum to get his 3rd knowledge.

So, knowing he would be out, he returned to his apartment.

Knowledge: Intermediate Electrical Engineering (52 700 FCP)

‘It’s becoming absurd. Is my innate ability just that powerful?’

Reigning in his conspiracist thoughts, he bought this last knowledge very closely related to his main way of gaining FCP.

Knowledge: Intermediate Electrical Engineering (Claim?)

Then, after making all his pre-forced sleep preparations, he once again fell into an unnatural sleep.

…

Time passed, days turned into weeks, and eventually one day…

“Another Canopy branch has gone rogue and completely separated themselves from the top underworld authority…” Summarizing the multiple articles dealing with the same subject he had under his eyes, Aven spent more than a 1 minute continuously talking.

“This one hasn’t started a bloodbath, but the distribution of counterfeit lethal awakening serums has explosively increased in Eland following their autonomy gain,” of course, he purposefully obscured the more shocking numbers for the underage twins listening.

This news immediately got the 5 people present to start a debate as they had become used to.

“For even a counterfeit branch to have split… Maybe the problem is much bigger than we can imagine,” Edwina crossed her arms as she hinted that the situation didn’t make any sense even to her.

“For them to even dare enter the Eland Continent when a purge happened just a decade ago, I can’t follow the logic, if there even is one,” Kern exposed his knowledge, but he had no idea of how to interpret this news completely outside his scope.

“They’re just rats surviving on the crumbs of the top powers, we should just sweep them all and be done with it!” Fierce Arica hadn’t learned her lesson about moderation yet and just gave her own naive opinion in an explosive manner.

And everyone, including her sister, proceeded to ignore her.

“How did they even bring their supplies in? The current global situation has made the border checks so stringent and thorough that nothing illegal should be able to pass through it,” Lorelie participated in her own way, also unable to explain how so much lethal counterfeit could have been brought inside Eland.

“They probably prepared beforehand then,” mild Arika unexpectedly took the opportunity to give her own piece of reflection, “No matter the implications behind that, unless you’re all wrong then that’s the most likely answer.”

The hall descended into silence as no one had more to say about this conclusion. And this silence maintained itself until a certain someone found the chance he had been looking for since the start of his volunteering day.

“While I have all your attention following this amazing debate that lasted 6 exchanges, let me announce something,” putting down his phone on his backpack, Aven stood up and started clearing his throat.

“It’s been a pleasure to have you 5 as my first half-friends in the world of the supers, but unfortunately, as you have all witnessed over the last month, my innate ability is entirely dedicated to making me learn faster, and so…” He looked at each of these 5 supers who he didn’t really know anything about, then didn’t hesitate to continue.

“After 1 month of dedication, I’m happy to announce that I’ve reached the theoretical knowledge necessary to graduate with honor,” he dropped his bomb, “Hence, I’ll redirect all my remaining time at EMATE on practicing what I have learned. This is therefore my last day accompanying you in this cold and lifeless hall.”

Sitting down after saying that, he smiled as he saw that all 5 of his half-friends were looking at him, probably expecting him to say something more.

“That’s it boys and girls, nothing else to add,” he added, feeling a bit weirded out by their gazes, “Stop looking at me like that, I also won’t make a joke, I can be serious when I want to.”

Ultimately, maybe they didn’t care, maybe they didn’t believe it, but no one tried to get him to explain or detail anything.

And 2 hours later, when Aven hit 16 hours of accumulated volunteering quest, he accepted his final big reward.

‘Claim.’

Faction Contribution Quest: Eland Military Academy of Technology and Engineering

Volunteering: Contribute to the stability of your faction without asking for anything in return. The more time spent and the harder the tasks, the greater the contribution.

Reward: 27 200 FCP

‘Time to go home.’

Over the last 2 weeks, his circadian cycle had returned to a classic day-night schedule with him waking up when the White rose and him returning to his apartment when it set.

Standing up, all the time he had spent inside this cold hall flashed before his eyes, but it was completely overshadowed the next instant by his bright hot drive at finally finishing up his “education”.

“Goodbye everyone, hope to see you later in life when you’re more mature and willing to enjoy every discussion,” expressing for the last time that he was not returning anymore, he didn’t look back and passed through the door leading to the computing hall.

Knowing perfectly that he hadn’t been lying and that the time for him to graduate was approaching, he appreciated every bit of the research area building as much as he could.

‘I just need to pass at the administration center to ask for special arrangements, and then I’ll start going through all the knowledge.’

Driven by his growing confidence and a nascent fierce ambition, Aven arrived at the administration center and as there was no waiting line, he directly reached the reception.

“Hello,” he politely greeted the man behind the desk and presented his badge, “I want to ask for special arrangements to be made.”

Taking his badge and identifying him, the man started the procedure without asking questions, “What do you require of EMATE Mr. Amias?”

“I want to go through the entire hangar’s production lines to prove I have the necessary knowledge and level to graduate and join the military, so I’ll need a first night by myself to prepare for the true test, and then a second night supervised by a senior to certify my expertise level,” detailing his demand slowly, Aven waited for the man’s typing speed to catch up to what he was saying.

“Your request will be sent and answered within 3 to 4 days, is that appropriate?” Finishing on his side, the man looked at him again and asked.

“It’s perfectly appropriate. Do I need to do something else?” Aven inquired.

“That will be all. Unless you have other requests?”

“No,” denying, he saw no further reasons to stay and turned, exiting the building a few dozen seconds later.

‘Well, that was easy.’

Getting on his bike, he questioned whether he should go to the cafeteria to eat something, or simply return to his apartment now. In the end, though, knowing perfectly what he would soon go through, he decided against losing even the slightest amount of time and headed straight to the R4 residential building.

Making it to it a few minutes of leisure pedaling later, he carefully secured his bike before heading inside.

When he put down his backpack and turned on the lights, this apartment he had lived in for more than a month now seemed to welcome him.